Department for Transport

Low Emission Zones: Greater London

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Mayor of London has access to DVLA records for the implementation and enforcement of the expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone.

Mr Richard Holden: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) provides information about UK-registered vehicles to Transport for London in line with the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002. The release of DVLA information for this purpose is governed by Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002.

Bus Services: Fares

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many bus journeys were charged to his Department under the £2 bus fare cap in January 2023; and what the cost to the public purse of those journeys was in that month.

Mr Richard Holden: Each bus operator participating in the £2 bus fare cap has been given a fixed reimbursement which was calculated using recent and historic data on ticket sales. Individual journeys are not charged to the Department, but as a condition of participating in the scheme, the operator agrees to sell all eligible single tickets for £2. This means that the scheme, which lasts from 1 January to 31 March 2023, has been delivered at a fixed cost to the public purse, and within a £60m envelope. We do not yet hold information on the number of bus journeys made under the £2 bus fare cap in Cambridgeshire, however we have an ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation process in place to review the three months of the scheme so that we will be in position to understand the full impacts it has brought on savings, patronage and bus usage. It is anticipated that this will conclude later this year.

High Speed 2 Line

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when HS2 (a) phase 1; (b) phase 2a (c) phase 2b and (d) HS2 East will be completed.

Huw Merriman: The latest delivery into service estimates for each Phase of HS2 were set out in October’s six-monthly report to Parliament with Phase 1’s range being 2029-2033; Phase 2a’s between 2030 and 2034; and Phase 2b Western Leg between 2035 and 2041. No delivery into service range has yet been set for HS2 East as this remains in early development. These ranges may be amended and Government will update Parliament accordingly.

Railway Stations: Defibrillators

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of railway stations have been equipped with defibrillators.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of railway stations are equipped with defibrillators in the South East.

Huw Merriman: The Department does not hold a central record of all stations that have been equipped with defibrillators (also called Automatic External Defibrillators or AEDs) but encourages Train Operating Companies to install AEDs at their stations where possible. Progress has been made, with defibrillators installed at all 20 Network Rail managed stations, including all the main London stations such as Euston, Victoria, and Kings Cross. Train Operating Companies are also making progress in rolling out AEDs at the stations they manage, including in the south east. South Western Railways is expected to have equipped the majority of its stations by the end of 2023, and Great Western Railways is currently rolling out defibrillators across its network and will have 18 new locations equipped by the end of March. Southeastern and Govia Thameslink Railways have installed defibrillators at all the stations they manage.

High Speed Two and Network Rail: Handbooks

Jack Brereton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the joint Network Rail-HS2 On Network Works handbook; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Merriman: We have no plans to publish the On Network Works handbook as it is an internal document.

Railways: Safety

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take with train operators to ensure the safety of (a) women and (b) vulnerable customers aboard trains as systems and services modernise.

Huw Merriman: The safety and security of rail passengers is of paramount importance for the Government and train operators. We continue to work with partners across industry and Government to deliver against the Violence Against Women and Girls Transport Champions’ recommendations published last March. The Government also requires train operators to design and deliver a Safeguarding on Rail Scheme which is designed to help all customers and especially those who are most vulnerable and in need of support. We continue to work with the industry, the British Transport Police and other partners to tackle anti-social, aggressive and intimidating behaviour on the railway and make it easier to report incidents. For example, the British Transport Police’s Travel Safety App (Railway Guardian) was released in July 2022, providing a one-stop-shop containing tools and advice to assist in safe travel across the railway. All passengers are encouraged to report any incidents or concerns they have to the British Transport Police’s ‘61016’ number. In addition, users of the Railway Guardian app can also report crime directly to the British Transport Police via its online crime reporting system, as well as there being a function to report safety issues directly to the rail operators.

Great British Railways: Location

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to identify the best location for the new headquarters of Great British Railways.

Huw Merriman: In order to determine the best location for the Great British Railways Headquarters (GBR HQ), the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) was tasked with overseeing the process to select a national headquarters for Great British Railways. GBRTT assessed the applications using six published criteria:Alignment to Levelling Up objectivesConnected and easy to get toOpportunities for GBRRailway heritage and links to the networkValue for moneyPublic support, which included a public vote on the short-listed candidates. An announcement on the final location of the GBR HQ will be made before the Easter break.

Blue Badge Scheme

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it is his policy that temporary blue badges should be issued by local authorities to people recovering from hip surgery when that affects their mobility.

Mr Richard Holden: The Blue Badge scheme is primarily about helping those with permanent mobility issues access the goods and services they need to use. Anyone may be entitled to a badge if they meet the eligibility criteria. The Department for Transport sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme local authorities are solely responsible for administering the scheme and issuing the badges.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Answer of 8 February 2023 to Question 139275 on Parking: Pedestrian Areas, what powers local authorities have to regulate pavement parking.

Mr Richard Holden: Local authorities have powers under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to prohibit pavement parking on the roads under their care, by implementing Traffic Regulation Orders.

Bus Services: Fares

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of the £2 bus fare cap on (a) the number of people using a bus and (b) bus companies' income from fares.

Mr Richard Holden: We do not yet hold information on the number of bus journeys made under the £2 bus fare cap, however we have an ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation process in place to review the three months of the scheme so that we will be in position to understand the full impacts it has brought on savings, patronage and bus usage. It is anticipated that this will conclude later this year.

Bus Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help incentivise bus operators to take on routes that other bus companies have withdrawn from.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent the loss of local bus routes.

Mr Richard Holden: The Government recognises the challenges facing the bus sector at present, and regularly engages with operators to understand the impact these challenges are having on their networks. The majority of bus services in England outside London are run on a commercial basis and decisions relating to the withdrawal of these services are for bus operators to make. The Government has made available nearly £2 billion since March 2020, through emergency and recovery grants, to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the bus sector. This support is currently in place until the end of March 2023. The Department is actively considering its support for the bus sector from April 2023 and will set out further details shortly. The Government already provides around £250 million annually to support bus services through the Bus Service Operators Grant, and supports spending of around £1 billion a year so that older and disabled people can travel on buses throughout England for free.

Bus Services: Fares

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to extend the £2 bus fare cap to summer 2023.

Mr Richard Holden: Yes. On Friday 17 February, we announced that we will provide up to £75 million to extend the £2 bus fare cap until 30 June 2023.

Ministry of Defence

Tornado Aircraft

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Tornado GR4s the Royal Air Forces owns.

Alex Chalk: The Tornado GR4 went out of RAF service in 2019 and has been through a thorough disposal process. The RAF have retained nine as ground based training aids and gate guardians but none are airworthy and the majority of their systems have been permanently removed or inhibited to ensure long-term safety for ground instruction training or public display.

Ukraine: Military Aid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of additional military aid that could be provided to Ukraine.

James Heappey: The UK has provided over £2.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine and is the leading European donor. The Government has committed to maintain or exceed that level of support this year. The Department is currently focussed on the delivery of significant commitments of support made by the international community at Ramstein in January and February. Delivery of these capabilities will determine the success of the Ukrainian armed forces through 2023.

Ukraine: Tanks

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of supplying more tanks to Ukraine other than those already committed to by the Government.

James Heappey: The provision of a squadron of Challenger 2 main battle tanks is a very significant contribution from the UK which has made possible the gifting of dozens of tanks from other Western nations. The UK continues to be the leading European donor of equipment to Ukraine and we keep all options for additional future support under review.

Ukraine: Typhoon Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his Ukrainian counterpart on the provision of Typhoon aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force.

James Heappey: Defence ministers are in very frequent contact with their Ukrainian counterparts and discussions have included the provision of combat air pilot training and capabilities. The Prime Minister has asked the Defence Secretary to investigate what support we might be able to give on the provision of combat aircraft to Ukraine. That work is ongoing and will focus on the long-term defence and security needs of Ukraine.

USA: Intelligence Services

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government is informed of the number of US intelligence officers working for the (a) CIA and (b) NSA hosted at British military and intelligence sites in the UK.

James Heappey: US Government Officials operate in the UK under the consent of UK Government. Details relating to US intelligence personnel are classified. It is Government practice not to disclose information relating to personnel working in intelligence roles in the UK to protect national security.

Ukraine: Civil Defence

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department is taking steps to provide air defences to Ukraine.

James Heappey: The UK is supporting Ukraine's air defence capabilities, as announced by the Prime Minister in Kyiv in November 2022.We have provided thousands of air defence missiles, six Stormer vehicles fitted with Starstreak missile launchers, Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) for use with the US National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAM), electronic warfare equipment and dozens of anti-aircraft guns.In addition, the UK has bolstered Ukraine's ability to provide early warning of Russian attacks from the air by gifting dozens of air defence radars.

Afghanistan: Armed Conflict

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 8 September 2021 to Question 41712 and the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 128603, how many round trip flights as part of Operation Pitting were conducted by (a) C-17, (b) Voyager, (c) A400M, (d) C-130 J and (e) other aircraft types to and from locations within Afghanistan other than Hamid Karzai International Airport.

James Heappey: There were no round-trip flights in support of Operation PITTING to or from locations within Afghanistan other than from HKIA (Hamid Karzai International Airport).

Airspace: Defence

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the UK's ability to (a) promptly detect, (b) continually track and (c) destroy high altitude spy balloons or similar which enter UK or UK overseas territories.

James Heappey: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I provided to the right hon. Member for Wentworth & Dearne (John Healey) on 14 February 2023 to Parliamentary Questions 140020 and 140021.Airspace : Defence (docx, 18.7KB)

Ukraine: Typhoon Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his (a) German, (b) Italian and (c) Spanish counterparts on the provision of Typhoon aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force.

James Heappey: The Defence Secretary regularly speaks with his European counterparts regarding our collective support to Ukraine's armed forces in response to Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion.The Prime Minister has asked the Defence Secretary to investigate what support we might be able to give on the provision of combat aircraft to Ukraine. That work is ongoing and will focus on the long-term defence and security needs of Ukraine.

Ukraine: Typhoon Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the Typhoon Tranche One for requirements of the Ukrainian Air Force.

James Heappey: The PM has asked the Defence Secretary to investigate what support we might be able to give on the provision of combat aircraft to Ukraine. That work is ongoing and will focus on the long-term defence and security needs of Ukraine.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2023 to Question 129949 on Afghanistan: Refugees, whether it is his Department's policy that a Relocations and Assistance Policy application invalidates an existing application for Leave Outside The Rules for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme.

James Heappey: As mentioned in my response of 31 January 2023, Leave Outside the Rules was the previous way of applying for Additional Family Members (AFM) under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). AFM are now included within the ARAP immigration rules.Afghan nationals can both submit their own ARAP application and be included on an AFM application submitted by a different applicant with confirmed ARAP eligibility. One does not invalidate the other.

Department of Health and Social Care

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether staff at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust Gender and Identity Development Service will be transferred to new regional hubs.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health in the debate on Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry on 31 January 2023, Official Report, column 46WH, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) level of engagement with affected families by and (b) other aspects of the non-statutory independent inquiry into Essex Partnership University Trust

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health in the debate on Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry on 31 January 2023, Official Report, column 46WH, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of converting the non-statutory independent inquiry into Essex Partnership University Trust into a statutory inquiry.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health in the debate on Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry on 31 January 2023, Official Report, column 46WH, what level of staff engagement with the non-statutory independent inquiry into Essex Partnership University Trust would he consider to be satisfactory.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health in the debate on Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry on 31 January 2023, Official Report, column 46WH, when he will decide whether the level of staff engagement will require the non-statutory independent inquiry into Essex Partnership University Trust to become a statutory inquiry.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Psychiatric Hospitals: Admissions

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish data on the number of people with mental health needs in long-stay inpatient hospitals.

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data does his Department holds on the number of people with mental health needs held in long-stay inpatient hospitals.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not collected centrally. The mental health services data set includes a number of measures relating to length of stay in hospital. Information includes data by age ranges and length of stay, and is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-services-monthly-statisticsInformation on the number of patients detained under the Mental Health Act is published by the Care Quality Commission in their report Monitoring the Mental Health Act, which is available at the following link:https://www.cqc.org.uk/publications/monitoring-mental-health-act/2021-2022

Care Workers: Coronavirus

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care workers lost their job because they declined the covid-19 vaccine.

Maria Caulfield: This data is not held centrally.

Members: Correspondence

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the the letter of 8 December 2022 from All-Party Parliamentary Groups on investment in the specialist workforce for children and young people.

Maria Caulfield: The letter was responded to by Minister Coutinho of the Department for Education on 14 December 2022, as the relevant minister.

Gene Therapies

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using gene therapy treatments to treat life-long conditions, including haemophilia.

Helen Whately: While no overall assessment has been made, the Government wants National Health Service patients to benefit from innovative and effective new medicines. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to providing the latest cutting-edge treatments and therapies for patients. New treatments for all conditions such as gene therapies will only be commissioned by NHS England if it receives a license for use through the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE has recommended several advanced therapeutic medicinal products including gene therapies, that are now routinely funded for NHS patients. There are two gene therapies for adults with haemophilia B which are expected to be available within the next few years.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of  5December 2022 and 10 January 2023 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare relating to his constituent Lee Holder and that matter of Sepsisand Post Sepsis Syndrome.

Neil O'Brien: I replied to the hon. Member on 17 February 2023.

Arthritis: Health Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is providing to arthritis patients in Huddersfield constituency awaiting orthopaedic surgery.

Helen Whately: Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust is contacting all patients on waiting lists to determine what support they need whilst waiting for treatment.Ongoing clinical support services can be accessed via a patient’s general practitioner or First Contact Practitioner for reassessment and medication review for pain control, and through a specialist community musculoskeletal service. Further support is available to patients on the National Health Service website, which provides advice on living with arthritis and links to national and local charities. This information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/arthritis/

Gender Identity Development Service

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust Gender and Identity Development Service is planned to close in Spring 2023.

Maria Caulfield: The closure of the current contract with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust will happen as quickly as possible in 2023, but crucially at a pace appropriate for the complexity of the change, while minimising disruption and any additional anxiety for patients.

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether patients under 17 years old seeking gender-related healthcare support at the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust Gender and Identity Development Service are still able to be referred on to a waiting list for future services.

Maria Caulfield: The waiting list for children and young people’s Gender Dysphoria Services remains open. New referrals are being directed to NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit, who will hold these referrals on behalf of the new service providers. These referrals will be transferred to the new service providers once they have commenced operation.

Gender Dysphoria: Health Services

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that there will be no gap between the closure of the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust Gender and Identity Development Service and the opening of new regional hubs.

Maria Caulfield: The establishment of the new services and closure of the current contract with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust will happen as quickly as possible this year, but crucially at a pace appropriate to the complexity of the change, while minimising disruption and any additional anxiety for patients.A national transformation programme has been established to oversee the transition of patients from the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust Gender and Identity Development Service into the new Phase 1 services.New referrals are being directed to NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit, who will hold these referrals on behalf of the new service providers in the interim. NHS Arden and GEM will transfer patients on the waiting list to the new providers once they have commenced operation.

Hospital Beds

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS (a) physical and (b) virtual beds were opened in January 2023.

Will Quince: The information requested is not collected centrally.NHS England publishes the KH03 dataset, which is a quarterly collection from all National Health Service organisations that operate beds. It collects the total number of available bed days and the total number of occupied bed days by consultant main specialty. Data for Q4 2022/23, covering January 2023, will be published in April.NHS England also publishes Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Reports, detailing the number of General and Acute and critical care beds open and occupied. In January 2023, there was a daily average of 101,717 physical general and acute NHS beds open.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 17 January 2023 to Question 125433, and with reference to the Answer of 17 June 2021 to Question 11615, for what reason bed numbers were provided for Question 11615 and not Question 125433; and how many CAMHS beds were available in the NHS in each financial year since 2010-11.

Maria Caulfield: Data is collected by NHS England through the KHO3 Quarterly Bed Availability and Occupancy, submitted as a sector breakdown which includes mental illness. However, this data is not broken down further by specialty such as children and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) beds. Question 11615 did not request a breakdown of adults’ or children’s beds and the response therefore included the total numbers of consultant-led beds.Question 125433 referred specifically to CAMHS beds and, as explained in my response to that question, this information is collected by NHS England but not centrally validated, so bed numbers were not provided.

Mental Health Services: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of CAMHS practitioners in the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: Under the NHS Long Term Plan, our aim is to grow the mental health workforce, across services for children and young people, and adults, nationally by an additional 27,000 professionals by 2023/24. NHS England and Health Education England are working with local integrated care systems, to confirm plans to 2024, looking across service models, supply, retention and recruitment.The NHS People Plan and NHS People Promise was published in July 2020 and sets out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention across all sectors. This includes a much stronger focus on staff health and wellbeing, more support for flexible working, and a renewed commitment to tackling inequality.To support retention, NHS England continues to develop tailored health and wellbeing offers that meet the needs of their local mental health workforce.Additionally, the NHS Retention Programme is seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. This includes enhanced early career support for new graduates, mentoring schemes to support experienced staff to continue their careers, better information and advice on pensions and guidance on supporting staff through the menopause.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for CAMHS in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.

Maria Caulfield: It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. We are supporting them to expand mental health services through the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to increasing investment into mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. As part of this investment we expect an additional 345,000 children and young people, including in the Hornsey and Wood Green constituency, should be able to access National Health Service funded mental health support.The NHS Long Term Plan also stated the aim of increasing the mental health workforce in England by an additional 27,000 professionals by 2023/24. NHS England and Health Education England are working with local integrated care boards to confirm plans for service models, supply, retention and recruitment until 2024.NHS England has consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards as part of its clinically-led review of NHS access standards, including that children, young people and their families, presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. As a first step, NHS England has recently shared and promoted guidance with its local system partners to consistently report waiting times to support the development of a baseline position.

Meat (Official Controls Charges) (England) Regulations 2009

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace the Meat (Official Controls Charges) (England) Regulations 2009.

Neil O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 December 2022 to Question 102910.

Dental Services: Staff

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making (a) dental nurses, (b) dental hygienists, (c) dental technicians, (d) clinical dental technicians, (e) orthodontic therapists and (f) dental therapists employees of the NHS.

Neil O'Brien: No assessment has been made. The National Health Service contracts with independent dental providers to deliver NHS dental treatment in primary care settings. As a result, pay and conditions are agreed between staff and the practice holding an NHS contract, providing practices with the flexibility to recruit to meet local needs.

Dental Services: Staff

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (i) Dental Nurses, (ii) Dental Hygienists, (iii) Dental Technicians, (iv) Clinical Dental Technicians, (v) Orthodontic Therapists and (vi) Dental Therapists working in the NHS.

Neil O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally. We plan to commence collecting data on Dental Hygienists, Dental Therapists and Clinical Dental Technicians providing National Health Service care from June 2023.

Evusheld

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has (a) sought and (b) received advice from immunologists on the effectiveness of Evusheld.

Will Quince: The Government’s decision not to procure Evusheld at this time was based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19  . DHSC also sought advice from  a United Kingdom national expert policy working group, which includes a range of expertise including immunology, virology and relevant specialisms such as oncology. The membership of these groups also included experts in interpreting and analysing complex data, including clinicians and pharmacists, evidence assessors, and researchers.

Department for Education

Schools: Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614, Schools: Buildings, which schools in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency have at least one construction element in (a) condition grade C and (b) condition grade D.

Nick Gibb: The Condition Data Collection (CDC) was one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This report is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body in the Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. This data is being prepared and will be published as soon as possible.

IGCSE: Assessments

Anthony Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help ensure that iGCSEs are assessed to the same standard as GCSEs.

Nick Gibb: International GCSEs were introduced to serve the large international market for British qualifications. They are also offered by some independent schools. GCSEs and International GCSEs differ in a number of ways, including subject content and assessment arrangements, which are determined by the awarding organisations that offer these qualifications.Unlike GCSEs, International GCSEs are not developed by the Department, regulated by Ofqual or funded for use in state schools. International GCSEs have not been included in school performance tables since reformed GCSEs were introduced from 2017 onwards. The Department therefore has no role in the setting grading standards for these qualifications.

Schools: Closures

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state-funded schools have been (a) temporarily or (b) permanently closed since December 2019 because one or more school buildings was deemed unsafe; and if she will publish a list of those schools.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) classrooms and (b) buildings in state-funded schools have been (a) temporarily or (b) permanently closed since December 2019 because they were deemed unsafe; and if she will publish a list of the affected schools.

Nick Gibb: Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as Local Authorities, trusts and voluntary aided bodies.The Department provides support to schools and responsible bodies and has allocated over £13 billion since 2015 for keeping schools safe and operational, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the Department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition or with potential safety issues.Where the Department is notified of a significant safety issue with a school building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis.Responsible bodies are not obliged to report building-related school closures to the Department. The Department does not routinely collect or hold complete data of the information requested. Since 2019, the Department has been capturing the closures that have been reported due to a range of issues, including building safety issues. The Department works closely with responsible bodies and schools to minimise the impact of closures and ensure continuity of education for pupils.Since December 2019, the Department has been made aware of 39 schools that have closed on a temporary or permanent basis, because one or more school buildings have been deemed unsafe. This is due to a range of reasons, including structural concerns and general condition issues, such as roofing and boiler failures.Of the 31 schools that temporarily closed, 23 were full closures and 8 were partial closures. A partial closure would include the closure of a classroom(s) and/or a building on the site. Of the 8 schools that permanently closed, 3 were full closures and 5 were partial closures. The Department does not hold data on the number of classrooms and/or buildings within a school site that closed. Where schools have closed, pupils have been relocated to existing spaces available on the school site or into alternative accommodation until a long-term solution is in place.Individual schools and the bodies responsible engage closely with parents and pupils regarding any closures, including alternative arrangements that may be required.

Natural History: GCSE

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2022 to Question 105315 on Natural History: GCSE, if she will provide a timeline for her plans for consulting and agreeing subject content, requirements and guidelines for the proposed GCSE in Natural History; whether it is still the case that she plans for first teaching to be available in schools from September 2025; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department is committed to developing the new natural history GCSE and ensuring it is of the highest standard.The Department continues to work closely with exam boards, subject experts, and Ofqual to develop the draft subject content for the natural history GCSE. The Department plans to consult publicly on this draft content in the coming months, before finalising the high quality subject content later this year.The Department intends for first teaching to be available from 2025.

Teachers: Recruitment

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to meet annual teacher recruitment targets.

Nick Gibb: As of the last School Workforce Census (November 2021, published in June 2022), the number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country. This is over 24,000 more than in 2010. The Department recognises there is more to do to ensure teaching remains an attractive, high-status profession.The Department recognises that some subjects remain more challenging to recruit to than others. The Department has announced a £181 million financial incentives package for those starting initial teacher training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing.The Department has expanded the offer to international trainees in physics and languages.The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.The Department has recently raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Government’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract talented people to teaching. The Department has also implemented the School Teachers' Review Body recommendation of a 5% pay uplift for experienced teachers and leaders in 2022/23.In autumn 2021, the Department launched the ‘apply for teacher training’ digital service. This enables a more streamlined, user friendly application route to attract and train teachers.The Department is also taking action to attract more people to teaching and enable them to succeed through transforming their training and support. The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development underpinned by the ITT Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework. Together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence-based training, across ITT and into their induction.

Schools: Buildings

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of how many temporary classrooms are in use in state-funded schools in each local authority area in England.

Nick Gibb: The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021. The ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report includes information on buildings used for teaching that were recorded as relocatable mobiles. The report is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.The Department is preparing more detailed CDC data for publication, including the number of relocatable mobiles by Local Authority, and plans to publish it as soon as possible.It is the responsibility of the academy trusts and Local Authorities that look after school buildings to maintain them and keep them safe. The Department is supporting them to maintain the condition of the school estate and rebuild schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion to improve the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.The School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools over the next decade. A total of 400 schools have been confirmed to date, including 239 announced in December 2022, prioritising those in the worst condition and where there is evidence of potential safety issues.

Primary Education: Assessments

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children are not put under excessive pressure by tests in primary school.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not recommend that pupils in primary school devote excessive preparation time to assessment, and not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. Schools should support a culture of wellbeing amongst staff and pupils.Research conducted by the University College London Institute of Education, which was published in 2021, found that there was little evidence to changes in wellbeing around the time of Key Stage 2 tests, or that children in England become happier once these tests are over.The Department is committed to ensuring schools and colleges are safe, calm and supportive environments which promote mental wellbeing. The Department is committed to providing senior mental health lead training to all state schools and colleges by 2025. More than 10,000 schools and colleges have received senior mental health lead training grants so far, which includes more than 6 in 10 state-funded secondary schools. A further £10 million provided this year means up to two thirds of state schools and colleges can benefit by April 2023.This is in addition to record funding for children and young people’s mental health support through the NHS long term plan, and the £79 million boost announced in 2021, meaning more than 2.4 million children and young people now have a mental health support team (MHST) attached to their schools and colleges. The number of MHSTs is planned to increase from 287 to over 500 teams by 2024.The Department has also recently brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site on GOV.UK, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision.

Primary Education: Assessments

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report of the Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education entitled Assessment for Children’s Learning: A new future for primary education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of that reports findings.

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education.

Nick Gibb: Primary assessments play a crucial role in supporting pupils to grasp the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and to prepare them for secondary school. They allow parents and schools to understand pupils’ achievements in relation to the age-related attainment expectations outlined in the National Curriculum.In 2017, the Department carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England, with the aim of creating a settled policy in this area. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views.The Department remains committed to producing and publishing school-level accountability measures, using full-cohort assessment data, which provide important information to support parents when choosing schools. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcome feedback on how it can be refined and improved. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcomes feedback on how it can be refined and improved.As primary school tests and assessments returned in the 2021/22 academic year for the first time since 2019, without any adaptations, the results were not published in Key Stage 2 performance tables. The usual suite of Key Stage 2 accountability measures has been produced at school level and shared securely with primary schools, academy trusts, Local Authorities and Ofsted to inform school improvement, inspection and to help identify schools most in need of support. This is a transitional arrangement for the first year in which primary assessments returned. The Department intends to publish Key Stage 2 assessment data on the performance measures website again for the 2022/23 academic year.

Students: Cost of Living

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to support students with the cost of living; and if she will make it her policy to implement the NUS’ recommendations to (a) tie student maintenance support with inflation, (b) reform Universal Credit to include fair access for students, (c) cap rents to prevent a student homelessness crisis, (d) provide funding to education providers to deliver improved hardship funds and (e) adjust maintenance loan thresholds to reflect changes to family income.

Robert Halfon: The government reviews the support provided to cover students’ living costs on an annual basis.The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year which have impacted students.On 11 January 2023, the department announced a one-off reallocation of funding to add £15 million to this year's student premium to support additional hardship requests. There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students. This extra funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. The department works with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure universities support students using both hardship funds and drawing on the student premium.In the 2022/23 academic year, there has been an increase of 2.3% in loans for living costs, and there will be a further increase of 2.8% for the 2023/24 academic year. Decisions on student finance have had to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of higher education are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.Loans for living costs are a contribution towards students’ living costs while attending university. The highest levels of support are targeted at students who need it the most, such as students from low-income families.The Primary source of financial help for students is provided through the student support system. As such, students on full-time higher education courses cannot normally satisfy the entitlement conditions for Universal Credit. Exceptions are only made where students have additional needs that are not met through the student support system, for example, they are responsible for a child. Further details on claiming Universal Credit as a student which includes a list of students who may qualify for Universal Credit can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students.The government plays no role in the provision of student residential accommodation. Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. We encourage universities and private landlords to review their accommodation policies to ensure they are fair, clear, and have the interests of students at heart. This includes making accommodation available at a range of affordable price points where possible.More widely, Government does not support the introduction of rent controls in the private rented sector to set the level of rent at the outset of a tenancy. The White Paper, ‘A Fairer Private Rented Sector’, published on 16 June outlines our proposed reforms which will help prevent unfair rent increases for tenants, while ensuring landlords can continue to make necessary changes to rent. The measures include only allowing increases to rent once per year, ending the use of rent review clauses, and improving tenants’ ability to challenge excessive rent increases through the First Tier Tribunal.

Ministry of Justice

Drugs: Trials

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) ineffective, (b) cracked and (c) vacated trials there were for the (i) production, (ii) supply and (iii) possession with intent to supply of class A drugs in each quarter between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2022.

Mike Freer: Data on the ineffective, cracked and vacated trials in the Crown Court, England and Wales, can be found attached (table 1 for the production of class A drugs offences, table 2 for supply of class A drugs offences, and table 3 for possession with intent to supply class A drugs offences). Notes and caveats about the data can be found on the attached data tables. There are a number of reasons why a trial may be ineffective, including witness absence, insufficient juror availability and the defence not being ready. Volumes for all types are seen to largely trend upwards after Q2 2020, with increases likely a result of covid impacts.Table (xlsx, 27.1KB)

Trials: Crown Court

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many outstanding cases there were over one year old in the Crown Courts in England and Wales as of 30 September 2022 for cases of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault, excluding rape, (c) fraud and (d) the production of, supply of, or possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many outstanding criminal cases there were over one year old in the Crown Courts in England and Wales as of 30 September 2022.

Mike Freer: Data showing further breakdowns for the number of outstanding rape, sexual offences excluding rape, fraud and the production of, supply of, or possession with intent to supply Class A drugs cases; and all offences has been provided in the attached table. There will always be outstanding cases in the courts as these figures include cases that are being prepared to be heard in the courts. The pandemic caused significant disruption in the Criminal Justice System. Jury trials were initially paused, and when they were resumed, social distancing restricted our capacity. This caused the number of outstanding cases to build up in both the Crown Court and the Magistrates’ Courts. Our decisive action in the Courts kept justice moving during the face of an unprecedented pandemic and as a result, the outstanding caseload in the Crown Court had reduced from 60,400 cases in June 2021 to 57,500 cases at the end of March 2022. However, the caseload increased again from April, primarily due to the Criminal Bar Association strike disruptive action and stood at 62,300 at the end of November. The caseload is now beginning to decrease and stood at 61,700 at the end of December 2022. We have invested a significant amount of extra money for the Criminal Justice System to help improve waiting times for victims of crime and reduce the Crown Court backlog. We are recruiting up to 1,000 judges in 2022/23 across all jurisdictions and we have removed the limit on sitting days in the Crown Court for the second financial year in a row which will enable us to sit at maximum capacity over the coming years. We are also delivering the specialist sexual violence support project in three Crown Court centres. We also recently announced the continued use of 24 Nightingale courtrooms into the 2023/24 financial year.Table (xlsx, 16.1KB)

Rape Crisis Centres

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with rape crisis centres on (a) their capacity levels and (b) trends in the number of people seeking their support.

Edward Argar: To understand trends in help seeking and service capacity, the Ministry of Justice receives regular monitoring data from service providers that captures demand, user needs and demographics. This data is collated and analysed to inform policy development and commissioning decisions. In addition, the MoJ regularly engages with the sector to identify good practices and delivery challenges.In recognition of rising demand, the Ministry of Justice is more than quadrupling funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10. The MoJ has committed £154 million per annum on a multi-year basis, for the next three years, allowing victim support services, and those commissioning them, to provide consistency to victims receiving support.Funding for sexual abuse support services is largely allocated through local Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC), which for 22/23 included £34 million ringfenced funding for Independent Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse Advisors, and the national Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund (RASASF).Last year, MoJ also undertook targeted research with rape victims to better understand their experiences, and what they want from support services. This research, published on 26 January 2023, has directly informed the recommissioning of the RASASF, ensuring our commissioning enables community-based service providers to meet the needs of all victims of rape and sexual abuse in the most effective way. The competition for this funding is currently live.

Crime: Victims

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to provide support to victims of crime.

Edward Argar: Last May, we published our draft Victims Bill, alongside a wider package of measures to improve victims’ experience of the criminal justice system. The Bill will enshrine the overarching principles of the Victims’ Code in primary legislation; increase oversight of how criminal justice agencies treat victims; and enable improvements in the quality and consistency of support services for victims. Following the Justice Select Committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny report on 19 January, we set out our intentions to strengthen the Bill. We will introduce the Bill as soon as parliamentary time allows.In addition, we have taken strong steps to improve support for victims of rape and serious sexual assault, including:In September, we fully rolled out pre-recorded cross examination (Section 28) for victims of sexual and modern slavery offences in all Crown Court locations across England and Wales. This special measure allows victims to pre-record evidence, spares them the glare of a live courtroom trial and allows them to give evidence in advance of the trial and then move on with their lives more quickly.We have more than quadrupled funding for victim and witness support services by 2024/25, up from £41m in 2009/10. The funding will allow us to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers by 300 to over 1,000, a 43% increase over the next three years.In December, we also launched a single source of 24/7 support for victims of rape and sexual abuse meaning every victim can now access free, confidential emotional support whenever and wherever they need it.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to enable the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to restore the full value of their grants in cases where a deduction has been made in respect of a compensation order but subsequently discharged.

Edward Argar: The government-funded Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 (the Scheme) exists to compensate for serious physical or psychological injury attributable to being a direct victim of a crime of violence. It provides an important avenue of redress for such victims and is part of the wider package of general and specialist support available to victims of crime.The Scheme is a route of last resort and requires awards to be withheld or reduced if an applicant receives a compensation order made in criminal proceedings which the convicted offender is expected to pay. This reflects the long-standing legal principle of avoiding double compensation for the same injury and protects taxpayer funded compensation awards for those unable to access compensation or similar payments by other means. Under the Scheme, once a final award of compensation has been made, there are limited circumstances in which the application can be reconsidered, which are: (a) a person who has accepted an award subsequently dies as a result of the criminal injury giving rise to the award; or (b) there has been so material a change in the applicant’s medical condition resulting from the criminal injury, that allowing the original determination to stand would give rise to an injustice to them.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Colombia: Coal

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 138452, whether any penalties have been applied to those three companies in relation to the Cerrejón coal mine.

David Rutley: We are not aware of any recent penalties against Glencore, the company that owns the mine, but we expect British businesses to respect local and international law wherever they operate, and look to extractive companies to comply with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Ministerial Boxes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much public money was spent by his Department in financial years (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 on the procurement of ministerial red (i) boxes and (ii) folders bearing the inscription Department for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.

David Rutley: The costs for new boxes, refurbishment, keys and folders was £10,189 in financial year 2020-21 and £10,192 in financial year 2021-22.Purchasing and repairing ministerial boxes is a routine UK Government practice under successive administrations, including the last Labour Government.

Syria and Turkey: Earthquakes

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK nationals his Department has provided support to in Turkey and Syria following the recent earthquake.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As of midnight on 19th February the FCDO has 119 individuals relating to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria recorded on its casework system. 24 of these require ongoing assistance. The FCDO has consular staff working in Turkey and London. We have not received any requests for support to British Nationals in Syria as a result of the earthquake.

Syria and Turkey: Earthquakes

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to ensure the Bab al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey to north west Syria is fully operational following damage sustained to that crossing as a result of the recent earthquake in that region.

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for enabling humanitarian aid to reach north west Syria of recent reports that (a) the Bab al Hawa border crossing from Turkey to north west Syria has been damaged as a result of the recent earthquakes in that region and (b) Turkish authorities are not allowing rescue teams to access Syria through that border crossing; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Prime Minister spoke to President Erdogan on 7 February, noting the humanitarian situation over the border in north west Syria, where Turkey plays an important coordinating role. The UK has stressed the importance of aid reaching all those who require it as quickly and efficiently as possible. That is why we called for additional crossings from Turkey as soon as the earthquake struck, and supported expanding humanitarian access to north west Syria even before this new crisis.We welcome the UN-brokered agreement on 13 February to open additional border crossings into north west Syria for an initial period of three months. It is vital that the UN is able to deliver aid swiftly via these border crossings and we will be working with the UN to verify that this is happening. As of 16 February over 140 trucks have so far crossed to north-west Syria since the earthquakes began.

Russia: Banks

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary for State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) seizing Russian Central Bank reserves and (b) repurposing those reserves as aid for Ukraine.

Leo Docherty: The Government is actively considering all possible options for seizing Russian linked assets in the UK that could be used to pay for reconstruction in Ukraine. While the UK is pursuing this at pace, ensuring any policy implemented is safe, robust, and compliant with the rule of law is of paramount importance.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Theatres: Energy

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 132310 on Theatres: Energy, whether she plans to provide funding to theatres to improve energy efficiencies via the Theatre Green Book.

Stuart Andrew: We welcome the innovative and leading approach taken by the Theatres Trust and its partners to produce the Theatre Green Book, which provides guidance to all theatres and performing arts venues across the country, sharing advice and resources to improve sustainability.The Theatres Trust is an arm’s-length body of Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Through it and another of our arm’s-length bodies, Arts Council England, the Department continues to provide support to theatres to identify ways to improve energy efficiencies through the use of the Theatre Green Book and the Arts Green Book, which build on these principles. Arts Council England also provides funding to Julie’s Bicycle to deliver an environmental programme providing cultural professionals with support and resources to address climate change and reduce environmental impacts.On 21 February, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero launched the Government’s Energy Efficiency Taskforce with the appointment of Dame Alison Rose, who will co-chair it. The Taskforce will devise a work plan to help reduce total UK energy demand by 15% from 2021 levels by 2030 across domestic and commercial buildings and industrial processes. This can include theatres and other cultural organisations.

Gambling: Coastal Areas and Urban Areas

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the land-based gambling sector on (a) coastal towns and (b) other high streets.

Stuart Andrew: We recognise the contribution made by the land-based gambling sector both in terms of jobs and gross value added (GVA) to the economies of coastal towns and other high streets. The government is considering a range of issues relating to the land-based sector as part of the wide-ranging scope of our Gambling Act Review, and will publish a white paper in the coming weeks.

Gambling: Payment Methods

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing trials of the use of cashless payments for the land-based gambling sector.

Stuart Andrew: Cashless payments via digital apps, ticket in ticket out systems and debit card payments at cash desks are currently permitted in the land-based gambling sector. It is also possible to pay for chips at a casino gaming table by turning away from the table and completing a debit card transaction with a staff member.Secondary legislation (The Gaming Machine (Circumstances of Use) Regulations 2007) currently prohibits the use of debit cards for payment at machine games. However, the government is considering issues around payment mechanisms as part of its wide-ranging Review of the Gambling Act. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming weeks.

Department for Work and Pensions

Restart Scheme

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals (a) were referred to, (b) participated in and (c) had a job outcome from Restart programme in each of the financial years it was available.

Guy Opperman: On 15 December 2022 the department published an ad-hoc statistical release for the Restart Scheme. The statistics include information on referrals, starts and job outcomes since the scheme started in June 2021 and is available at: Restart Scheme to September 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Universal Credit: Parkinson's Disease

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in receipt of Universal Credit have a diagnosis of Parkinson's in (a) Liverpool Walton and (b) the UK.

Guy Opperman: The specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he will plans to answer Question 136620 on Universal Credit tabled by the hon. Member for South Shields on 30 January 2023.

Guy Opperman: An answer to PQ 136620 was sent on 20/02/2023.

South Tyneside Council: Finance

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much grant money was returned to his Department by South Tyneside Council in 2021.

Mims Davies: The department can confirm that between January 2021 - December 2021, South Tyneside Council refunded a Kickstart grant overpayment of £1,860.

Kickstart Scheme

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals (a) were referred to, (b) participated in and (c) had a job outcome from the Kickstart programme in each financial year it was offered.

Mims Davies: As of 10 February 2023, over 163,000 Kickstart jobs had been started by young people. Below is a table listing the number of individuals who were referred to a Kickstart job, i.e. invited to consider applying to a role, and the number of individuals who started a Kickstart job. An individual may have been referred to or started a Kickstart job more than once and across different years. Individuals may have commenced a role but moved for personal, local or employer reasons. This includes joining the wider labour market. As a result, the total number of individuals who started a Kickstart job differs from the total number of Kickstart jobs that were overall started by young people, see table below. As of 10 February 2023, around 7 in 10 young people were in paid employment 10 months after starting their Kickstart job. Table 1: Individual referred to a Kickstart job & individuals who started a Kickstart job, for the financial years 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. The figures used are correct as of the 10 February 2023 Financial yearNumber of referrals to Kickstart JobsIndividuals referred to a Kickstart jobNumber of Kickstart Jobs startedIndividuals who started a Kickstart job2020/2021485,000166,0009,0009,0002021/20222,485,000351,000154,000145,000Total2,969,000429,000163,000152,000 The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics but is provided in the interests of transparency.Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.An individual young person may have been referred or started a Kickstart job more than once and in multiple years. Therefore, where the table is counting individuals, individuals will be counted in each year they are referred/start a Kickstart job, however will only be counted in the total once.In this context a referral means a work coach has highlighted a Kickstart job to a claimant as an opportunity for them to consider. Not all individuals referred to a Kickstart job applied for a Kickstart job. Several young people could be referred to each job and several young people could apply for each job, therefore the number of individuals referred to a Kickstart job differs from the number of individuals who started a Kickstart job.Although care was taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system, which has been developed quickly.

Health and Safety: EU Law

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of retaining the (a) Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations, (b) Manual Handling Operations Regulations, (c) Display Screen Equipment Regulations, (d) Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, (d) Provision and use of Work Equipment Regulations and (e) the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulations following the passage of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on regulations on working at height.

Mims Davies: With the introduction of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL Bill), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains focused on ensuring that regulatory frameworks maintain the United Kingdom’s high standards of health and safety protection and continue to reduce burdens for business. HSE’s approach aligns closely with the Government’s pledge to do more for business to help promote growth by removing disproportionate burdens and simplifying the regulatory landscape. Our standards of health and safety protections are among the highest in the world. HSE will continue to review its retained EU Law to seek opportunities to reduce business burdens and promote growth without reducing health and safety standards.

Disability Living Allowance

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for Disability Living Allowance, how many (a) applications were received, (b) awards were made and (c) mandatory reconsiderations were completed in which the decision was (i) upheld and (ii) overturned in each year since 2013.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for Attendance Allowance, how many (a) applications were received, (b) awards were made and (c) mandatory reconsiderations were completed in which the decision was (i) upheld and (ii) overturned in each year since 2013.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for Industrial Injuries Disablement Allowance, how many (a) applications were received, (b) awards were made and (c) mandatory reconsiderations were completed in which the decision was (i) upheld and (ii) overturned in each year since 2013.

Tom Pursglove: We have grouped the response to the above three parliamentary questions together. The information requested is in the attached document. Points to note:Information on the volume of applications received and the volume of awards made for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is available as published data on Stat Xplore from 2017 onwards. In particular the ‘Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) Assessments’ dataset gives data on ‘Accepted – payable’ assessments and the ‘New Claims to Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)’ dataset. These datasets can be found in the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) folder. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. Figures for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit applications received and awards made up to 2017 is derived from Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit quarterly statistics. This data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/industrial-injuries-disablement-benefit-quarterly-statistics The rest of this data is derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution.Figures for applications received and awards made are rounded to the nearest 1,000.Figures for Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) are rounded to the nearest 100.Figures for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit includes Industrial Injuries Disablement Allowance and Reduced Earnings Allowance.Figures for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) cover both DLA Adult and DLA Child and awards made include new claims and renewals.Definition of Mandatory Reconsideration: Claimants who wish to dispute a decision made on their claim are required to ask the department to reconsider the decision before they can lodge an appeal with His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. MRs can arise for various reasons, such as omitting to tell the DWP about relevant evidence during the initial decision-making process; this could include not returning forms required as part of the claim.Figures are for Great Britain only.Figures cover applications, awards and Mandatory Reconsiderations from October 2013 up to May 2022. Table 1 (xlsx, 20.7KB)

Personal Independence Payment

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Personal Independence Payment claimants were identified as needing Additional Support and automatically progressed to the provider for an assessment in each of the last five years.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) Personal Independence Payment and (b) Disability Living Allowance claimants are identified as needing additional support in the last month for which data is available.

Tom Pursglove: All Personal Independence Payment (PIP) customers with an Additional Support (AS) marker at registration are automatically referred to an assessment provider. The table below shows the number of PIP claimants who had a confirmed AS marker at the point of registration and the number who were referred to an assessment provider. The latest data is up to October 2022. These figures do not include the claimants who were given an AS marker at later stages of the process, and not all these registrations would have necessarily gone on to be awarded.YearClaimants with a confirmed AS marker at registrationClaimants automatically progressed to an assessment providerNov 2021 – Oct 2022131,100130,700Nov 2020 – Oct 2021187,800187,800Nov 2019 – Oct 2020133,800133,800Nov 2018 – Oct 201950,90050,900Nov 2017 – Oct 201862,20062,100AS customers cannot be disallowed from PIP for failing to return their PIP2 form, so the difference in figures between registrations and referrals to an assessment provider, may be due to other circumstances such as the claimant pulling out of the process. The number of current PIP recipients with an AS marker in October 2022 was 422,200. This will include claimants who received an AS marker after registration. The equivalent data is not available for recipients of Disability Living Allowance. Source: PIP Atomic Data StoreFigures are for England and Wales only;These figures include claims made under normal rules and special rules for terminal illness and include new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP reassessment claims;Figures are rounded to the nearest 100; andThis is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.

Work Capability Assessment

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 140261 on Work Capability Assessments, what that data is for the sixth of each month from March 2022 to January 2023.

Tom Pursglove: For the purposes of this response, we have interpreted your question as asking for the number of outstanding Work Capability Assessments for both Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit, that are reassessment cases, as opposed to new claims.The table below shows the number of reassessment cases that were with the assessment provider (AP), and awaiting action, on the sixth of each month from March 2022 to January 2023. MonthNumber of reassessment casesMar 2239,000Apr 2237,000May 2235,000Jun 2235,000Jul 2235,000Aug 2234,000Sep 2234,000Oct 2235,000Nov 2235,000Dec 2233,000Jan 2333,000 Please note All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 1,000;All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment providers; andThe above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.

Social Security Benefits

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure it can correctly identify benefits claimants in need of additional support.

Tom Pursglove: All benefit lines have processes in place to identify claimants in need of additional support. For example, all DWP staff are required to undertake mandatory mental health awareness training to ensure they recognise, and respond to, the needs of claimants with mental health conditions. As processes are different across benefits, however, the exact approaches to additional support can vary.

Joint Work and Health Unit

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what workstreams have been established by the Joint Work and Health Unit; and what progress he has made on the workstreams.

Tom Pursglove: The Joint DWP/DHSC Work & Health Unit focuses on supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. Enabling them to live healthier, more independent lives. It achieves this through an ambitious programme of activity: influencing health and local systems to contribute to achieving the best health and work outcomes; working with the commercial occupational health market; employer-facing activity; innovative joined-up interventions for people in and out of work in Jobcentres; and through a variety of employment programmes. In 2017, the Government set a goal to see a million more disabled people in employment between 2017 and 2027. Between Q1 2017 and Q1 2022, the number of disabled people in employment increased by 1.3m – meaning the goal was met after only five years. Our goal to reduce the disability employment gap remains. We will continue to galvanise action across, and outside of, Government to ensure we are ambitious about the employment of disabled people, and supporting them to start, stay and succeed in work.

Joint Work and Health Unit: Staff

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many full-time equivalent employees were employed in roles primarily aimed to deliver the work of the Joint Work and Health Unit in each of the last five financial years.

Tom Pursglove: The number of full-time equivalent employees in roles primarily delivering the work of the Joint Work and Health Unit, in each of the last five financial years, is in the table below: Financial Year (FY)Full-time equivalent employees (FTE)   2017/18117.162018/19105.852019/20140.532020/21135.242021/22145.98  Notes:The FTE numbers for both 2017/18 and 2018/19 include an element of staff working for the Office for Disability Issues (ODI). The ODI transferred to the Cabinet Office at the end of 2018/19. The joint Work and Health Unit was subsumed into the Employers, Health and Inclusive Employment (EHIE) Directorate in 2019. It is considered disproportionate to try and estimate the actual number of staff primarily delivering on joint Work and Health Unit activities within the directorate, and those working on other, aligned activities. FTE numbers for all the FYs include all staff working in the Health, Employers and Disability at Work policy areas (including staff from the Department of Health and Social Care), as well as dedicated delivery, strategy and analytical staff resources.

Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant the Answer of 06 February to Question 135441 on Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons for increase in the number of claimants disallowed for non-return of the AR1 form between 2017 and 2021.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2023 to Question 135440 on Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, what assessment he has made of the reason for the increase in the number of Personal Independence Payment claims disallowed for non-return of the AR1 form between 2017 and 2021.

Tom Pursglove: No such assessment has been carried out as we do not collect information on the causation of a failure to return the AR1 review forms, which then result in a disallowance for Personal Independence Payment.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Foie Gras and Furs: Imports

Wendy Morton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the (a) quantity and (b) value of (i) foie gras and (ii) real fur imported into the UK in each year since 2015.

Mark Spencer: Data on the volume and value of fatty livers (which includes foie gras) and imported fur (including skins and articles of clothing, apparel and accessories) is publicly available on the UK Trade Info website - Trade data - UK Trade Info

Fireworks

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of fireworks on (a) domestic animals, (b) wild animals and (c) vulnerable people.

Rebecca Pow: The Government has not made these assessments. However, the Government takes the issues associated with the sale and use of fireworks seriously. There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks which aims to strike the right balance for people to enjoy fireworks, while aiming to reduce risks to animals and people.

Animal Experiments

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to end animal testing in the UK.

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of whether animal testing is needed in the UK.

Rebecca Pow: The Home Office Regulator will only grant licences to use animals in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.The Government is supporting and accelerating advances in biomedical science and technologies to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. UK Research and Innovation provides core funding for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of new methodologies, including alternatives to animals.The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by UKRI.

Olive Oil: EU Law

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether she plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace Regulation 29/2012.

Mark Spencer: Defra is in the process of analysing and assessing its retained EU law stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, including in relation to Regulation 29/2012.

Home Office

Passports

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the HM Passport Office will replace instances of the phrase Her Majesty to His Majesty on newly-printed UK passports.

Robert Jenrick: The changes will be implemented in a phased way from this summer.British passports issued in the name of Her Majesty the Queen will continue to remain valid travel documents until their expiry date.

Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of average time it takes to register a death.

Robert Jenrick: No estimate has been made. The General Register Office is part of His Majesty's Passport Office and oversees civil registration in England and WalesIn England and Wales, the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 requires a qualified informant to register the death of an individual within 5 days of the death taking place.

National Crime Agency: Asylum

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 132324 on National Crime Agency: Asylum, whether the number of National Crime Agency officers working on child asylum seekers has increased since 21 January 2023.

Robert Jenrick: For security reasons, we do not disclose how many staff are working on an issue at a given time.

South Tyneside Council: Grants

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much grant money was returned to her Department by South Tyneside Council in the last two years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office can confirm that no grant monies were returned to the Department by South Tyneside Council in the last two years.

Members: Correspondence

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to correspondence from the Rt Hon. Member for East Ham dated 29 November 2022, reference ST101757.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office will respond shortly.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications made by EU citizens to remain in the UK were refused by her Department in each of the last six months.

Robert Jenrick: Statistics of immigration applications refused, by the applicant’s nationality, are published quarterly.Data to 30 September 2022 is currently available. Data to 31 December 2022 will be published on 23 February 2023.Refusals of applications to the EU Settlement Scheme are available in table EUSS_02 at EU Settlement Scheme quarterly statistics, September 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Refusals under the general immigration rules for both asylum and non-asylum applications are available in the Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement and Extensions data sets.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Vehicles

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many (a) fossil fuel-, (b) electric- and (c) hybrid-powered road-legal vehicles their Department purchased in the last 24 months.

Dehenna Davison: The core department has not purchased any vehicles in the last 24 months.

Elections: Proof of Identity

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessmenthehasmade of thepotentialimpact of bringing in Voter ID for local elections in May 2023onvoter turnout.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon. Member to the response to the UQ I gave on the floor of the House on 21 February 2023.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether any residential buildings between 11 and 18 metres in height in Battersea constituency have been identified as having unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether any residential buildings under 11 metres in height in Battersea constituency have been identified as having unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems.

Lee Rowley: The department does not hold information on buildings under 18 metres which have unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems. The department has not been made aware of any such blocks in Battersea.

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: Brighton

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has provided ring-fenced funding for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to Brighton and Hove City Council.

Lee Rowley: The department is not responsible for the creation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

Levelling Up Fund

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 4.4 of his Department's guidance entitled Levelling Up Fund Round 2: explanatory note on the assessment and decision-making process published on 19 January 2023, whether an impact assessment was undertaken of the sequential decision-making process Ministers adopted to select successful bids.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 4.4 of his Department's guidance entitled Levelling Up Fund Round 2: explanatory note on the assessment and decision-making process published on 19 January 2023, whether an alternative shortlisting process was considered before adopting the sequential decision-making process used by Ministers.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish the assessment scores awarded to successful bids in Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to paragraph 4.1 of his Department's guidance entitled Levelling Up Fund Round 2: explanatory note on the assessment and decision-making process published on 19 January 2023, which representatives from No. 10 attended meetings to discuss the shortlist of bids in Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much of the £4.8 billion allocated by his Department for the Levelling Up Fund has been spent as of (a) 18 January 2023 and (b) 8 February 2023.

Dehenna Davison: Further to the answer I gave to Question UIN 129836 on 26 January 2023, the department has published an Explanatory Note detailing the approach to assessment and decision making, the list of successful applicants, and a geographic and thematic summary analysis of successful and unsuccessful bids. The department is currently providing feedback to unsuccessful bidders. Once that process is complete, and alongside further details being announced on Round 3 of the fund, the department may judge to set out further information.The total grant amount allocated to date under the Levelling Up Fund programme is £3.8 billion. £1.7 billion was allocated under Round 1, and a further £2.1 billion was allocated under Round 2.

Property: Succession

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support the Government provides to assist people who have inherited a property from a deceased relative but face financial hardship because they have been unable to sell the property within the 6-month period during which empty properties are exempt from Council Tax.

Lee Rowley: When a property is empty following the death of the owner, it is exempt from council tax for as long as it remains unoccupied and until probate is granted. Following a grant of probate, a further exemption of up to six months is possible, after which normal rules apply. However, local authorities have powers to agree alternative payment arrangements and some offer to defer payment until the proceeds of a sale are made available.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Research: Foreign Investment in UK

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking help attract international (a) investment and (b) partnerships to research and development facilities outside the UK's largest universities.

George Freeman: The Government commitment to invest in R&D makes the UK a globally competitive destination for investment and partnerships. Funding programmes which anchor investment in the UK are open to international investors and partners. An example is Research Partnership Investment Fund which supports investment in higher education facilities across the UK. Universities must attract a further £2 from non-public sources for every £1 invested by the fund. Funded projects go on to attract wider investment and partnerships as they develop to enrich the UK science and research system.

Animal Experiments

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential opportunities for increasing the (a) development and (b) uptake of non-animal alternatives to experiments on animals.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an estimate of the potential economic benefit of innovation in advanced methods and approaches to replace the use of animals in research and testing.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support her Department provides for the development of new non-animal technologies and approaches in science.

George Freeman: The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council, and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Animal Experiments

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the UK is a global leader in the use of non-animal technologies and approaches in scientific research.

George Freeman: The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) provides core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) (NC3Rs), which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies. The UK has a world leading reputation for the delivery of the 3Rs principles and the NC3Rs is widely recognised as being world leading, supporting research and innovation that provides researchers in academia and industry with technologies that are more predictive, cost-effective and humane than current animal models.

BioYorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support BioYorkshire; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for that programme.

George Freeman: The York and North Yorkshire proposed devolution deal signed on 1 August 2022 commits UKRI to seek opportunities to support the development of the BioYorkshire cluster. An inaugural meeting of the BioYorkshire Steering Group took place on 29 November 2022 with representation from UKRI on the Group. It was agreed that the University of York, working with local partners, would develop a BioYorkshire masterplan and programme by Spring 2023 to drive the cluster’s growth. UKRI continue to engage stakeholders to understand the evolving strategy and strengths of the BioYorkshire cluster and to identify elements within this plan for UKRI support.

Universities: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education on funding university research; and how that responsibility is shared between her Department and the Department for Education.

George Freeman: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is responsible for general policy on university research funding and through UKRI, is the principal public funder of university research. The Department for Education is responsible for higher education policy. There are regular discussions and joint working on areas of common interest across both departments.

Innovation and Technology: Business

Chi Onwurah: To ask Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she plans to take with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to help ensure that innovation and technology are aligned with business needs.

George Freeman: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will focus on positioning the UK at the forefront of great scientific discoveries and technological advancement. This Department and the Department for Business and Trade will work closely delivering the Government’s priorities, supporting economic growth and innovation, promoting businesses globally and attracting high-value investment.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: South Tyneside

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much grant money was returned to her Department by South Tyneside Council in the last two years.

Paul Scully: In regards to the Broadband Programmes (Building Digital UK), no grant money was returned to DCMS by South Tyneside Council in the last two years.

Department for Business and Trade

Business: Closures

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many business deaths there were in each local authority in England in 2022.

Kevin Hollinrake: Table 2.1d in Business Demography, UK shows the number of business closures by district, county, and unitary authority in England, and can be found here: www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/datasets/businessdemographyreferencetable.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy: Billing

Zarah Sultana: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that bill estimates from energy providers are as accurate as possible.

Graham Stuart: Under Ofgem’s licence conditions, suppliers are required to take all reasonable steps to reflect accurate meter readings in bills or statements sent to customers. As the independent regulator, Ofgem is responsible for ensuring licensed energy suppliers are complying with their rules. Details of Ofgem’s ongoing supplier compliance and enforcement activity, including individual decisions, are at this link: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/compliance-and-enforcement/retail-compliance-and-enforcement.

Leisure: Energy

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the energy support provided to the (a) sports and (b) leisure industries.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that eligible businesses, including sport or leisure facilities, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over winter. The HMT-led review of the EBRS took into account the many contributions from the private sector, trade associations, the voluntary sector and other types of organisations. The review recognised that sport or leisure facilities may continue to experience high energy bills which is why the Government will continue to provide support to eligible non-domestic customers through the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme which will run from April until March 2024.

Leisure: Energy

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the rise in energy costs on (a) cultural, (b) sports and (c) leisure facilities.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including cultural, sport or leisure facilities, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. We recognise that organisations such as cultural, sport or leisure facilities may continue to experience high energy bills which is why we will continue to provide support to eligible non-domestic customers through the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme which will run from April until March 2024.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will hold discussions with Ofgem on including remote switching in the suspension of forced prepayment meter installations.

Graham Stuart: Following interventions from Government and Ofgem, all energy suppliers have agreed immediately to halt forced installations and remote transfers to prepayment meters until the end of March 2023. This includes ceasing installation by warrant, ceasing the remote mode switch of smart meters to prepayment mode without explicit agreement from the customer, and ceasing new applications to court for installation warrants – unless theft is suspected.[1] [1] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/follow-letter-suppliers-treatment-domestic-customers-during-pre-payment-meter-installations

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 138404 on Energy: Meters, whether any sanctions will apply to companies that have force-fitted prepayment meters in households; and if he will provide guidance to consumers with such meters on their (a) rights and (b) options for recourse.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem is responsible for enforcement of licence conditions. Ofgem is undertaking a further compliance review and will determine any sanctions. Information on consumer rights and options for recourse can be found at:https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-prepayment-meter-rules.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 135450 on Energy: Meters, whether his Department has set a deadline for energy suppliers to publish that data.

Graham Stuart: All energy suppliers have responded to the letter dated 4th February from my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State. These responses have been shared with Ofgem and the relevant data will be published in due course.

Boilers: Ynys Mon

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed 2026 oil and LPG boiler ban on properties on Ynys Môn.

Graham Stuart: The Government consulted on phasing out the installation of heating systems using high carbon fossil fuels in homes, businesses and public buildings in England off the gas grid during the 2020s. The Government published impact assessments alongside these consultations. The Government will set out further details on these proposals when it responds to these consultations in due course. As this relates to a devolved matter it is for the Welsh Government to consider steps to decarbonise heat off the gas grid in Wales.

Energy Intensive Industries: Government Assistance

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made on the effectiveness of energy support available for industries with high energy intensity that do not qualify for the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme.

Graham Stuart: The HMT-led review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme took account of many contributions from the private sector, trade associations, the voluntary sector and other types of organisations. Trade and energy intensity assessments were based on ONS and BEIS data. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity, and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. Industries with high energy intensity not on the list of eligible Standard Industrial Classification will continue to get support through the Energy Bill Discount Scheme that runs from April 2023 to March 2024.

Energy Bills Discount Scheme

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will publish his Department’s assessments of (a) energy intensity and (b) trade intensity for all sectors on the Energy and Trade Intensive Industries scheme.

Graham Stuart: There are currently no plans to publish the assessments of energy and trade intensity of sectors. The assessment took place as part of the HMT review into the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and were based on ONS and BEIS data. All sectors that met the threshold of being above the 80th percentile for energy intensity, and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes, are eligible for the enhanced support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will ask Ofgem for an assurance that their Market Compliance Review into prepayment meters examines the outcomes for consumers as well as processes and governance within suppliers.

Graham Stuart: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to Ofgem in January, highlighting his expectations that Ofgem revisits supplier processes relating to self-disconnections, remote switching, forced installations, and the decisions taken before putting a customer on a prepayment meter in their Market Compliance Review, with a focus on outcomes for consumers. The focus on customer experiences was also reinforced in a letter from the Secretary of State to Ofgem in February. The Government expects Ofgem to take firm action in addressing such issues.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Executive: EU Law

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill (2023) and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform Bill), what measures he has put in place to enable retained EU within the devolved competency of the Northern Ireland executive to be retained, replaced or restated ahead of the sunset clause of 31st December 2023.

Mr Steve Baker: UK Government officials have been proactively engaging with The Executive Office in Northern Ireland on the progress of the Bill and the wider retained EU law reform programme and have established regular intergovernmental meetings intended to support the Northern Ireland Civil Service with the identification of which REUL is devolved or reserved, as part of the retained EU law reform programme and wider Whitehall departmental engagement. The UK Government is committed to sustained engagement with the Executives Office and devolved counterparts.

Northern Ireland Executive: EU Law

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill (2023) and the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, what discussions he has had with colleagues in Westminster and Northern Ireland regarding the impact of the December 2023 sunset clause on legislation contained within the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Steve Baker: The UK Government is committed to ensuring that necessary legislation is in place to uphold the UK’s international obligations, including the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement after the sunset date in the Retained EU Law Bill. UK Government Officials have been proactively engaging with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Civil Service on the progress of the Bill and the wider retained EU law reform programme and have established regular intergovernmental meetings intended to support devolved counterparts with the identification of which REUL is devolved or reserved, as part of the retained EU law reform programme and wider Whitehall departmental engagement. The UK Government is committed to sustained engagement with devolved counterparts as part of this work.

Treasury

Duty Free Allowances

Dr Kieran Mullan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the report by Oxford Economics entitled Assessing the impact of tax-free shopping in the UK, published in November 2022.

James Cartlidge: Following the initial withdrawal of VAT-free shopping in November 2020, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published their assessment of the withdrawal of the schemes. Their assessment showed that withdrawing the scheme would raise a significant amount of revenue and have a limited behavioural effect on decisions to visit, or spend, in the UK The Treasury has reviewed the Oxford Economics report and remains confident in the OBR’s analysis In particular, the findings of the Oxford Economics report are underpinned by an assumption that introducing VAT-free shopping will generate an additional 1.6 million visitors to the UK.   We do not recognise these figures. The OBR, using a higher than usual price elasticity of demand to account for VAT-free shopping being targeted at luxury goods, put this figure at 20,000-30,000 for non-EU visitors, which would imply a figure of 60,000-80,000 of total visitors (EU and non-EU). That is about 5% of the report’s 1.6 million estimate. Reflecting this difference in estimates of additional visitors could lead to their report overstating the potential extra revenue by around £1 billion.

Hospitals: Sutton

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social care on the approval of the Full Business Case to build a new hospital in the London Borough of Sutton.

John Glen: As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, both the Chancellor and I discuss a range of priorities on health with DHSC Secretary of State including delivery of new NHS infrastructure. The Hon member will know that the NHS was funded at the Spending Review 2020 with £3.7bn for 4 years up to 2024/25 to make progress on the 40 hospitals announced as part of the New Hospitals Programme in 2020, of which one is Epsom & St Helier. I know the Secretary of State and his department are working tirelessly to ensure effective delivery as soon as possible across the whole programme.

Banks: Russia

Bob Seely: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the level of Russian Central Bank reserves held in the UK; and in what form those reserves are held.

Andrew Griffith: In conjunction with our partners, we have blocked access to £275 billion of the Russian Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves globally. Under the Russia sanctions regime, the Russian Central Bank’s assets have been immobilised in the UK as a result of a prohibition on the provision of financial services in respect of these assets. We continue to work with relevant stakeholders on the implementation of this sanction.

Economic Advisory Council

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the Economic Advisory Council; what was discussed at those meetings; and if he will publish the minutes of those meetings.

James Cartlidge: On 17th October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the establishment of an Economic Advisory Council. This Council acts as a consultative forum for the government to be advised on UK and international economics and financial markets. The Chancellor meets with the Council as part of his constant engagement with economic experts.

David Buttress

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with the cost of living business tsar, David Buttress, since his appointment; what was discussed at those meetings; and if he will publish the minutes of those meetings.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. In accordance with our principles of transparency and accountability, details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at HMT ministers' meetings, hospitality, gifts and overseas travel - GOV.UK. It is not standard practice for minutes of ministerial meetings to be disclosed.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gambling: Internet

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help protect people who exclude themselves from gambling platforms.

Sir Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to prevent gambling companies contacting individuals who have excluded themselves from gambling platforms by (a) postal marketing and (b) other means.

Stuart Andrew: As a condition of their Gambling Commission licences, all operators must offer self-exclusion procedures for customers, with multi-operator self-exclusion schemes in place for both online gambling (where all operators must be integrated with the GAMSTOP scheme) and land-based sectors.As part of the self-exclusion process, licensees must take all reasonable steps to prevent marketing materials being sent to any self-excluded individual, including removing their details from any marketing database within two days of receiving notice of self-exclusion. If a customer has registered with GAMSTOP, all operators are expected to remove them from marketing lists. Operators who fail to comply with self-exclusion requirements are subject to enforcement action from the Gambling Commission.

Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority: Staff

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, by what proportion the staffing budget for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has changed in each of the last ten years.

Sir Charles Walker: In the past ten years, the IPSA staffing budget has been increased in each financial yearc, including a mid-year uplift to budget in 2020-21 in response to the coronavirus pandemic: Financial yearBudget envelope (non-London)Budget envelope (London)2013-14£137,200£144,0002014-15£138,600 (1% increase)£145,500 (1% increase from the previous year)2015-16£140,000 (1% increase)£147,000 (1% increase)2016-17£141,400 (1% increase)£148,500 (1% increase)2017-18£150,900 (6.7% increase)£161,550 (8.8% increase)2018-19£153,620 (1.8% increase)£164,460 (1.8% increase)2019-20£155,930 (1.5% increase)£166,930 (1.5% increase)2020-21£177,550 plus mid-year £16,480 covid uplift (£194,030 or 24.4% if including covid increase)£188,860 plus mid-year £18,270 covid uplift (£207,130 or 24.1% if including covid increase)2021-22£179,330 plus £24,970 covid uplift (£204,300 or 5.3% if including covid increase)£190,750 plus £27,680 covid uplift (£218,430 or 5.5% if including covid increase)2022-23£221,750 (8.5% if incorporating covid uplift for 2021-22)£237,430 (8.7% if incorporating covid uplift for 2021-22)2023-24£236,170 (6.5% increase)£252,870 (6.5% increase)